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What do you mean by "meant to"? I suppose humans are also "meant to" be eaten by bears or die from minor infections, but I'm not exactly eager to sign up for th

What do you mean by "meant to"? I suppose humans are also "meant to" be eaten by bears or die from minor infections, but I'm not exactly eager to sign up for that, are you?

SeanLuke 14y ago
I think he's referring to Vitamin B12.
- mistercow 14y ago
  Fortunately, modern technology makes it very easy to get adequate B12 without consuming any animal products.
mc32 14y ago
I think one (not being a prey for a bear) takes no biological re-adjustment (well, except provisions to live longer, I suppose). On the other hand, getting used to a radically different diet would take many generations to adjust to. For example, after a few thousand years, some people are not yet used to cow's milk, or used to wheat. Long term, yes, nature should take care of that.
- mistercow 14y ago
  Huh? I've been a vegetarian for 16 years, and a vegan for one year, and I'm quite adjusted. I don't remember any generations passing in that time, but I might not have been paying attention.
  - mc32 14y ago
    I meant adjusting naturally to the different source of nutrition. If you're a vegan, you would normally need to be very careful of your diet so that you do not introduce nutritional deficiencies into your system, or you would need to subsidize your nutrition with vitamins. Long term, the body could find a way to bypass the nutritional subsidies --it could take a very long time (cows had to develop additional stomachs to adjust to eating primarily grass, for example).
    - sdm 14y ago
      Ahhh... you have to be pretty careful with what you eat if you eat meat as well to. Just walk down the street for examples. Generally, the length of our digestive system is sited as one of the main reasons we are so poorly adapted at eating meat.
      - ceejayoz 14y ago
        Our ancestors generally weren't eating massive portions of heavily processed, heavily spiced meat. Taco Bell gives you the shits because it's Taco Bell, not because it's meat.
        mistercow 14y ago
        In fact, many of our ancestors were often eating so little meat as to be nutritionally insignificant, which is the other major hole in the "eating meat is natural" argument. But I really don't know why you added "heavily spiced" in there. Spices are usually more or less nutritionally neutral.
        ceejayoz 14y ago
        > Spices are usually more or less nutritionally neutral. Nutritionally neutral, but not gastrointestinally, as folks sensitive to spicy food can attest.
    - mistercow 14y ago
      It's not really any more difficult to keep your nutrition balanced as a vegan than as a carnivore. Either way, you have to pay a bit of attention to what you eat, not eat too much of this, and not eat too little of that. And what's wrong with taking supplements? You keep invoking the concept of "natural", but there is nothing intrinsically superior about nature. Humans are in control now, and we're doing a lot better for ourselves than nature ever did.

What do you mean by "meant to"? I suppose humans are also "meant to" be eaten by bears or die from minor infections, but I'm not exactly eager to sign up for that, are you?

SeanLuke 14y ago

I think he's referring to Vitamin B12.

mistercow 14y ago
Fortunately, modern technology makes it very easy to get adequate B12 without consuming any animal products.

mc32 14y ago

I think one (not being a prey for a bear) takes no biological re-adjustment (well, except provisions to live longer, I suppose). On the other hand, getting used to a radically different diet would take many generations to adjust to. For example, after a few thousand years, some people are not yet used to cow's milk, or used to wheat. Long term, yes, nature should take care of that.

mistercow 14y ago
Huh? I've been a vegetarian for 16 years, and a vegan for one year, and I'm quite adjusted. I don't remember any generations passing in that time, but I might not have been paying attention.
- mc32 14y ago
  I meant adjusting naturally to the different source of nutrition. If you're a vegan, you would normally need to be very careful of your diet so that you do not introduce nutritional deficiencies into your system, or you would need to subsidize your nutrition with vitamins. Long term, the body could find a way to bypass the nutritional subsidies --it could take a very long time (cows had to develop additional stomachs to adjust to eating primarily grass, for example).
  - sdm 14y ago
    Ahhh... you have to be pretty careful with what you eat if you eat meat as well to. Just walk down the street for examples. Generally, the length of our digestive system is sited as one of the main reasons we are so poorly adapted at eating meat.
    - ceejayoz 14y ago
      Our ancestors generally weren't eating massive portions of heavily processed, heavily spiced meat. Taco Bell gives you the shits because it's Taco Bell, not because it's meat.
      - mistercow 14y ago
        In fact, many of our ancestors were often eating so little meat as to be nutritionally insignificant, which is the other major hole in the "eating meat is natural" argument. But I really don't know why you added "heavily spiced" in there. Spices are usually more or less nutritionally neutral.
        ceejayoz 14y ago
        > Spices are usually more or less nutritionally neutral. Nutritionally neutral, but not gastrointestinally, as folks sensitive to spicy food can attest.
  - mistercow 14y ago
    It's not really any more difficult to keep your nutrition balanced as a vegan than as a carnivore. Either way, you have to pay a bit of attention to what you eat, not eat too much of this, and not eat too little of that. And what's wrong with taking supplements? You keep invoking the concept of "natural", but there is nothing intrinsically superior about nature. Humans are in control now, and we're doing a lot better for ourselves than nature ever did.